Chapter 2005 – 2005. God’S Atlantis
Hephaestus continued to hammer away at my body. Each time he swung, fragments of stars burst and emitted a sparkling light. It was quite a fantastic sight.
However, after a while, it became boring. I belatedly checked the notification window that had popped up earlier.
「Luck of the Draw (EX) is activated.」
「Luck of the Draw (EX) is temporarily deactivated.」
‘Hephaestus, sir. Luck of the Draw was activated earlier, but do meteor showers usually fall?’
If it was a skill that caused meteor showers, it would be an incredible skill. Isn’t it even better than the Astrape (EX) skill I just obtained?
‘Abilities related to luck are not about causing impossible things to happen. It’s closer to confirming things with very small possibilities.’
‘That alone seems amazing….’
‘The meteor shower was something that was going to happen eventually. Your luck just changed it to now. No matter how lucky you are, you can’t twist the cause. Don’t take luck for granted, and don’t trust it either.’
‘You can’t twist the cause? Then what is the cause of the meteor shower?’
‘Even a god doesn’t know everything. But I guess… somewhere in space must have broken.’
‘……Is it okay to talk so calmly about such a huge disaster?’
‘There are times when gods, driven mad by boredom, go on rampages. As a result, natural disasters like meteor showers or tsunamis can occur.’
‘Isn’t that dangerous?’
‘The other gods nearby will take care of it, so don’t worry. This is an important task, so don’t talk to me.’
Hephaestus began to concentrate. The sound of hammering grew louder and clearer. I didn’t know much, but the way the space rippled and the lava swirled every time he hammered made it seem like something extraordinary was happening.
I held back the urge to ask how the star fragments were helping the Hwaryeon Bido. If I asked a question and disturbed Hephaestus’s concentration, and he made a mistake, I would be the only one to suffer.
‘My hands are starting to hurt…. I wish he would finish quickly.’
Isn’t he a blacksmith god? Shouldn’t he just be able to complete it in a flash?
Clang!
I snapped back to attention at the sound of a different hammer. The Hwaryeon Bido was being finished. The heat subsided, the lava solidified, and the sparkling star fragments were nowhere to be seen.
The Hwaryeon Bido was completely repaired. On the outside, it didn’t look much different. However, in my eyes, with Hephaestus’s possession, I could see the energy imbued within the Hwaryeon Bido.
This was no longer just a simple sword. It was a work of art in itself.
Unfortunately, even with Hephaestus’s vision, I couldn’t tell how powerful the Hwaryeon Bido was. I didn’t have Hephaestus’s experience.
‘Even if you use the sword roughly, it won’t break. Even if it does break, it will recover on its own.’
‘Are you telling me not to use it roughly?’
‘Use it roughly. Tools exist to be used. What good is it to cherish a tool?’
‘Is that all the enhanced Hwaryeon Bido can do?’
‘You can use its original abilities.’
‘Are you talking about attribute enhancement? That was quite useful, so I’m glad.’
When using lightning through the Hwaryeon Bido, the lightning turns red. It’s not just the color that changes; its power also increases. I was relieved that this ability hadn’t disappeared.
‘Because I used Fafnir’s heart, you also gained the ability of greed.’
‘What kind of ability is it?’
I asked, full of anticipation. It wasn’t for nothing that I hunted Fafnir. I wanted a powerful ability, so I killed Fafnir and used his heart as a material.
‘If you get the enemy’s blood on the blade… to put it more simply, you can temporarily use the enemy’s abilities. However, once you use it, it will take time to use it again.’
‘So it’s an ability that perfectly copies the opponent’s abilities!’
‘No. It depends on your capabilities as the owner.’
‘Does that mean if I’m weak… I won’t be able to use that ability properly?’
‘You understand correctly.’
‘…….’
In the end, it was an ability that depended on me. Should I be happy about this? Suddenly, it doesn’t feel like a very good ability.
‘You put other materials in… didn’t you put in a meteor? There are other abilities, right?’
‘You can use a domain. You won’t be able to use it often.’
‘What is a domain?’
‘It’s about making the surrounding area your own space and twisting the laws to your advantage…. Hmm. It’s hard to explain in words. Domains are often used by gods when they fight over authority. They clash using these domains. Since you’re human, there will be limits to how long you can maintain a domain.’
‘I think I understand roughly.’
‘You understand?!’
‘…Is it that surprising?’
‘How could a human without authority understand a domain?’
‘Inside the furnace. Wasn’t that a domain?’
‘…That’s right.’
Hephaestus seemed genuinely surprised. How much did this bastard look down on me to react like this? I barely held back the urge to curse.
‘How did you understand it right away?’
‘Have you forgotten what kind of trials I overcame?’
‘Ah. That’s right. I forgot for a moment. In the trials, you became a father and used authority recklessly. Right. You used domains several times. It seems like the explanation is over. I’ll be going now.’
‘No, wait a minute. Aren’t there any other abilities?’
‘There aren’t.’
‘Like the Hwaryeon Bido developing a self… didn’t you say before that the Hwaryeon Bido had a will?’
‘Will and self are different. The Hwaryeon Bido already has a will, and it recognizes you as its master. The possibility of it becoming a self… it’s not impossible, but it’s a very slim chance.’
‘Is that so? But don’t cursed swords or demon swords talk to their users?’
‘That’s not a self; it’s just evil spirits clinging to the weapon.’
‘……Changing the question, will it not change even if I kill humans in the future?’
‘It will remain unchanged even if you kill hundreds of millions, billions of humans.’
‘What about non-human beings?’
‘I don’t know.’
I checked the information of the Hwaryeon Bido.
「Hwaryeon Bido
???
Rank: ???」
I was bewildered. The information window for the Hwaryeon Bido was different before. It was an SS-rank weapon based on Atlantis standards.
‘Hephaestus, sir. Why is the information like this?’
‘It must be because of the domain.’
Hephaestus answered as if he was annoyed and then left. I’ve felt it since the trials, but Hephaestus seemed uninterested in anything that wasn’t blacksmithing.
As Hephaestus disappeared, my body was naturally pushed out of the smithy.
I could feel the heat.
“Hot!”
Startled, I ran towards the still-open portal.
「You have entered the 4,000th district, Mount Olympus.」
The heat I felt disappeared. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. It was drenched in sweat. Sweat had been dripping down my face.
‘I can’t go to that area without heat protection.’
I had no regrets.
Despite the nice-sounding name of the God’s Smithy, it was too difficult to use.
Instead, I looked at the Hwaryeon Bido, which had been enhanced along with the repair. There were no cracks. The straight, red blade was even beautiful.
“You’re back, Hwaryeon Bido!”
Woo-oong.
As if responding to my words, the blade trembled. It wasn’t just my imagination.
I swung the Hwaryeon Bido in the air. The weight and balance of the sword hadn’t changed, but the sharpness of the blade had become more lethal.
After swinging the sword a few more times, I smiled with satisfaction.
‘This is the feeling. I missed this feeling.’
Lightning.
Pajijijik.
Red currents flickered along the blade of the Hwaryeon Bido. Just by looking at it, I could tell. It was lightning enhanced even further through the Hwaryeon Bido.
‘It will be difficult to use the Hwaryeon Bido’s abilities here.’
I went outside the temple of Olympus. If I used my powers recklessly inside the temple, I might receive the gods’ curses. I knew very well that the gods of Olympus were surprisingly petty.
‘Still, it will be difficult to gain control of Mount Olympus.’
I flew out of Mount Olympus with Valkyrie’s wings. As I did, I focused my eyes and scanned the ground. I needed a target to use the Hwaryeon Bido. A moderately strong monster would be fine.
‘The guys who always appear and bother me are nowhere to be seen when I actually need them.’
I found a monster by the lake. It was a giant snake with nine heads.
‘It’s a hydra.’
I knew it well because I had killed one in the trials.
‘Can I fight it now?’
I compared the hydra from the trials with the hydra in front of me now.
I wasn’t sure. In the trials, it was like a crawling bug, but now it felt like a formidable enemy that couldn’t be ignored.
‘The hydra must have some prestige. It will be weaker than the hydra in the trials.’
The hydra must have sensed my gaze because it raised its body. After a moment of hesitation, I decided to fight it.
‘If things get bad, I’ll run.’
Full recovery was still on cooldown, so I couldn’t use it. I could use Thousand Hearts, so I wasn’t afraid of poison.
The hydra opened its mouths wide towards me. Poison was sprayed from all nine mouths at once.
‘It reaches this far?!’
Startled, I quickly dodged the poison and flew to the side.
‘Damn it. If I were Zeus, I would have ignored any poison and ripped off all their heads with my bare hands!’
Lamenting my lack of power, I moved my mana.
‘Astrape!’
A thick bolt of lightning fell from the sky onto the hydra. Two of the hydra’s heads were cut off and burned.
‘Seeing that it can take out two hydra heads in one go, the power is outstanding, as expected of EX rank. It’s also so fast that it would be hard for most to react.’
The downside was that it consumed a lot of mana. I needed to think of another way to use Astrape efficiently.
The hydra screamed and indiscriminately shot out poison.
‘Valkyrie’s Shield.’
I approached the hydra with Valkyrie’s Shield in front.
Chiiik!
The poison began to melt the surface of the shield. It was shocking. How could an S-rank shield melt so easily!
‘Isn’t the Hwaryeon Bido going to melt too?! No, I trust Hephaestus’s skills!’
If it was going to melt from the hydra’s poison, it would be better to just melt. I cut through the hydra’s poison flying towards me with the tip of my sword. The hydra’s poison got on the blade but didn’t melt it.
I landed on the lake. Thanks to [Blessing of Water], I could stand on the water.
As I ran towards the hydra, I twisted my ankle. Fortunately, I was able to regain my balance before falling.
‘Have I become too used to Zeus’s body….’
